


Spider and the Beast

by kroganwarrior22



Series: Spider and the Beast [2]
Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Getting Advice, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:55:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25550167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kroganwarrior22/pseuds/kroganwarrior22
Summary: Just as Peter thinks he's found the love of his life in Harry Osborn, a secret is revealed that could shatter the relationship. Luckily for them they aren't the only ones to have a complicated love life. Sequel to Not So Lonely Anymore, rated M for safety, violence, language, and themes. Everything belongs to Sony, Marvel, Disney, and Insomniac Games!
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Harry Osborn/Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Spider and the Beast [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852174
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue: Catching Up

Peter was so anxious for multiple reasons tonight, it could be the best night of his life. For the past six months, Peter had been dating Harry in his secret apartment and..it was absolute heaven. Despite some awkward moments when sex was concerned, Harry suffered trauma in Europe, they made it work. Plus unlike Ned, Harry didn't care about dating at odd hours because of his Spider-Man activities. There was just an understanding between the two that his superhero persona was a part of him. It helped they had already known each other for years so Peter felt comfortable moving in with him after two months. What made tonight so special was the fact that MJ returned from her trip to Symkaria a few days ago and the three of them were going to have a reunion at Mick's. As he pulled into the parking lot though, Peter noticed Harry's car wasn't there yet. His science job at Stark Industries must've been running late.

When he opened the door into Mick's, MJ was already springing towards him for a hug, "Oh my god! Ugh, it's been way too long. How are you...?"

Peter may have surprised her with a genuine rich smile, "I'm doing good! What about you? What's it like being back in the states?"

Before she could answer the daughter of the original owner to Mick's smirked to the both of them, "Guessing just two as always?"

"Yes please. And oh it was so intense but I so loved it. Everyone needs to know the differences between Stark Industries and Oscorps trea-" MJ quickly began passionately going into the news story she had been researching for six months.

Peter felt bad but he had to interrupt her, "Th..three actually Jane..."

Before they had scheduled the dinner, Peter are Harry had agreed they were going to surprise MJ with the reveal he had come back from Europe. On his own, Peter planned on popping the question to Harry before they got to the restaurant as a way to show her that they were together. Was six months maybe too soon to ask that? Maybe. At the same time though, they had known each other for so long that he felt comfortable asking to spend the rest of his life with him. Unfortunately, Harry had been late out of work and MJ showed up before him so he couldn't just get a table for three on his own. Surely MJ was going to ask all sorts of questions about it that he had to answer. Hopefully Harry wouldn't be too upset Peter ruined the surprise before he got there. He didn't think he would be able to stall her for long.

Both of the women raised their eyebrows with MJ having a questioning tone, "Oh...? Something I should know about?"

Peter blushed slightly rubbing the back of his neck as he sat down, "Maybe... I might have met someone almost as soon as you left."

MJ lit up with a broad smile quietly thanking Jane for menus, "I want all the details! I told you going out more would help you find somebody. Don't leave anything out and talk quick before he gets here."

"Well, some mercenaries took some hostages at Grand Central Station pride night. I may have made some Spidey comments about missing going to a bar and after the battle one of the civilians offered me a drink in thanks... One thing led to another and..let's just say I took the rest of the night off." Peter was doing his best to be vague about the encounter.

MJ's eyes went wide in shock cupping her mouth, "Is that honestly the first time someone has you know...offered that for getting rescued? Showing off isn't like you, how drunk were you?"

He waited for Jane to get their orders for drinks before replying to MJ, "I only had one thank you very much. We just..really, really, got along and then he just leaned in and I, you know...liked it."

Her gaze became somewhat suspicious at him, "Are you sure it isn't some sort of scummy reporter just trying to get a story about you?"

A chuckle came out of him amused by how wrong she could be despite always bragging about her being an investigative reporter. She was about as far as from the mark as possible and yet it was really cute. Some people might take offense to MJ's nosey attitude regarding his love life yet Peter found it endearing she cared about him so much. He was glad someone was watching out for his feelings even if it was misplaced, especially after he lost May. Even if he hadn't known Harry for years well enough to know he wouldn't do that, he had actually got him employed with Stark Industries as an environmental biologist. Calling Tony and asking for a favor was a lot better than risking Norman catching Harry while looking for a job. Although at this point, he was a little frustrated Tony would keep his boyfriend at the office an hour and a half after his shift was over when they had a date.

"I can assure you this person does not care about Peter Parker being the one under the suit. What about you? Any James Bond esque romances while you were abroad?" Peter asked casting a glance to the parking lot hoping he would've seen Harry's car rolling in but no luck.

MJ wagged one of her fingers glaring at him with a smirk, "Nuh uh, you aren't going to get out of talking about you that quickly. So, you had a thing the first night that went well but what happened next? Have you had your first fight yet? How has the whole, you having to go out every night for the city, thing gone?"

Peter patted her hand giving her a reassuring smile, "MJ, you don't have to worry about me all the time. I'm happy, he's happy, and hopefully you'll get to meet him any minute now. What about you? How did your trip really go?"

His phone rang and he immediately picked it up after the first word assuming it was Harry, "Hey handsome, we're both here just waiting on-"

To his horror it was Yuri who replied, "I'm not your boyfriend Spider-Cop. Though that explains why your not already here. Turn on the news and then get down here as soon as you can. We need you!"

Why didn't he check his caller ID before answering the phone? That was one of the easiest things he could do to avoid a mix up like that, especially when he had been so good about not letting Yuri know his relationship status for awhile now. Sure, Peter had only been out patrolling every other night instead of every night to spend time with Harry. He always had an excuse like, "I sprained my ankle I can't come out tonight," or, "The pizza gave me food poisoning Spider barf everywhere." Since crime had actually been going down after Otto's attack he felt more comfortable taking time off for himself and if it had been an emergency he definitely would've still shown up. By her tone though, Peter could tell that Yuri never bought any of those excuses, and this was an emergency worth caring about. She didn't even have time to tell him what was going on where expecting him to find out on his own.

He put his phone back in his pocket and gave a smile to Jane, "I know you have a no politics rule in here but, do you mind turning on channel 5 for just a minute? A friend of mine said it's important."

Jane smiled back at him, "Sure thing Peter, it's not a national channel so we're good."

While she was fishing around under the table for a remote, MJ was looking down at her own phone. "Oh god that's...yeah this is definitely important."

He was about to lean over to see what was going on only for the TV on to answer that question for him. The screen showed an image of city hall with cops surrounding an inky bulky brute the size of the Hulk. Except the difference was this creature was dipped in pitch black paint and...had some of his powers? Peter stared in a state of shock as the thing literally used a much thicker web string to latch itself on to one of the police vehicles only to hurl it at another incoming SWAT car. In horror Peter continued to watch the thing use another web to grab the twisted chunk of metal it created and flung it into city hall causing a massive explosion. How many people did that thing kill just now? Why was it aiming all it's hatred at the symbolic home to Norman Osborn? He was getting Li flashbacks which wasn't a good sign. Regardless he was already moving to go outside so he could take off his regular clothes for the Spider suit that was underneath.

MJ followed him staying around a corner as look out, "Uhh anything specific you want me to tell your significant other if they get here without you..?"

Shit, he hadn't thought about the fact that Harry was probably going to roll in any minute now. Normally that would've been fine, Harry had always made it clear he understood protecting the city was important to him. And it wasn't as though MJ and Harry weren't friends before making it an awkward dinner without him. They had many more years of catching up to do than he did. However, not only was MJ smart enough to put two and two together regarding the relationship but, he also remembered his engagement ring box was still in his back pocket. No way could he leave something so valuable out here in the back alley with the rest of his clothes, meaning he had to give it to MJ for safe keeping. It wasn't that he didn't trust her with the ring, he just knew she would have a ton of questions he had no time to answer. Just bite the bullet Peter, she was going to find out soon enough anyways. Now it was just going to be more rushed then he had planned.

Peter stripped into his spandex Spider suit and put the mask on so she couldn't see the embarrassment on his face, "Tell Harry that there's a xenomorph thing outside that I had to deal with and uh take this please...I haven't gotten to pop the question yet so if you could just hide it? Thanks."

He was already web zipping his way into the sky when she yelled, "Wait. HE'S your boyfriend?!"

Thankfully, Peter was already far enough away to not have to answer that question immediately. She had always known Peter had absolutely no interest in women but Harry was surely a surprise. It had been for him too. Now though, he was going to have to focus his attention on whatever monster Norman had unleashed on the city this time. Part of him hoped whatever it was would be just what they needed to put him behind bars this time. People were dying due to these seemingly pointless science experiments. His mind was racing trying to figure out how he was going to take Spider-Hulk down. Sometimes he wished the Avengers spent more time in New York instead of LA specifically when stuff like this happened. Oh well, he dealt with Otto alone he could deal with this too.


	2. Chapter 1: Old Friends

As it would turn out, Peter probably wasn't going to be able to handle this on his own judging by the number of SWAT vehicles he was swinging to follow on his way to city hall. Sure he had thought the same thing about Otto but, this was a little different. Otto had caused massive damage with biological warfare, not sheer force of strength as well as web slinging abilities. Rhino was most likely the closest comparison he was going to be able to make to whatever this thing was yet, just from seeing the video he could tell it had a level of intelligence to it Rhino simply did not possess. It had lumped two vehicles together in a giant death ball to cause the most damage to the city hall building. He could totally understand wanting to kill Norman for what happened to May, however, he believed serving a sentence or the Raft would be better justice. Plus, Peter would never ever put innocents in danger just so he could have his petty revenge.

When Peter swung around the corner towards city hall ha realized things were a lot worse than the video feed could fully illustrate. Upon first glance he assumed the street corner had been bombed rather than attacked by someone on the ground. Everything from taxi's to the traffic lights had been knocked over as though they were toys in a particularly active childs sandbox. He remembered seeing Bruce and Tony go at it on the news one time before he became Spider-Man and even that level of destruction could only serve as a tiny comparison to what he was seeing here. In retrospect, Peter wondered if he should have brought the armored suit he developed when he had to take down Otto. On the other hand, this was pretty urgent of a mission and he couldn't as discretly carry that around with him unlike the average suit. He'd make this work, it wasn't the first time he had to improvise to take something down. 

"You helped to take down Thanos when you were a teenager Peter, relax." He whispered to himself as a pep talk only to see an actual police officer being flung at him from the ground, "Ok, maybe a little less relaxing."

Peter was just barely able to catch the tumbling officer with a web before throwing them over his shoulder to zip to the nearest building, "Ahhh, oh Jesus.. Thanks Spider-Man, I thought I was dead for sure."

Knowing he had to get back to the action as fast as possible, Peter set the officer down a little less gently than he should've, "Don't mention it. Just stay here while I deal with uhh that th-"

Before he could finish what he was going to say, Peter felt his spider sense light up like a Christmas tree when he heard the signature 'thwip' sound of a web shooting towards him. So this was what his criminals experienced right before a takedown, neat. At least it would have been if the black, oozing, sticky substance hadn't immediately latched on to the back of his spine and was tugging him off the two story rooftop with the momentum of a 747. If falling wasn't enough, he landed right up against the rock solid oversized fist of whatever this thing was. The closeline not only made him dizzy, but it also sent him sliding and rolling across the pavement a few dozen feet. Thankfully, his wonderful spider bite gave him extra strength so he hadn't died on impact yet he wasn't invincible. If he was lucky all he was going to need was some Advil after this. For some reason though, he didn't think he was going to be lucky, some hospital food wouldn't be the worst thing in the world right?

He sprang back to his feet as fast as he could manage so that the morale of the officers around him wouldn't crash to an all time low, "Man, I'm flattered you wanted to copy my powers but did it have to be black webbing? Kinda goes against the whole white I got going here." He motioned to the white spider symbol on the center of his chest.

The creature gave him very little time to breathe charging towards him with a harsh, growling, primal voice, "GO AWAY!"

The fact it could speak English was a good sign and hadn't necessarily caught him off guard, what had made him freeze up was the growl. Perhaps somewhat embarrassingly, it made Peter think of whenever Harry was about to orgasm when they were together. The sound was hauntingly similar, especially to when they had their first time together and Harry had jumped off of him yelling no. Harry had later explained he had been through some traumatic experiences in Europe and he had gotten flashbacks. It had to just be coincidence right? I mean they had done some incredible things in the shower this morning before Harry ran off to work so maybe he still had that on his mind. Regardless, the monster hadn't waited on him to make up his mind and kicked him like Peter was a football on Superbowl Sunday. Even though the force of the blow knocked the air out of his lungs, he could at least control the fall this time ending up landing in his traditional crouched stance.

Seeing as the monster was seemingly satisfied with his work, Peter webbed the open car door of an unattended police cruiser flinging the door towards the things head, "Hey! You can't get rid of me that easy!"

His heart fell to the pit of his stomach when he saw it caught the door in mid air with a thicker web of its own while he was still attached. Once again, Peter had the sensation he was a snapping rubber band flying through the air without any real control to his trajectory. The difference though this time was that he was being tossed in between the officers who were shooting a hail of gunfire and the creature itself. For a terrifying split second he thought he might die acting as a bullet sponge for the monster. His life flashed before his eyes remembering Uncle Ben, Aunt May, his past relationship with Ned, his time with the Avengers, but most importantly Harry. The regret he had of not telling Harry he loved him more, not being able to make it official adding Harry to the Parker family for real. Miraculously, he hadn't been riddled with bullets like he had been expecting although one managed to pierce his ankle. Peter howled in pain crashing into the steps to city hall wishing he could kiss the ground.

The first thing he heard was Yuri shouting, "Hold your damn fire!"

"Thanks May." He whispered wanting to think that she was looking out for him wherever she was instead of all the police just having Stormtrooper aim, "Yeah that would be nice!" Peter yelled back in her direction.

She winced noticing his ankle had a not so subtle bleeding wound, "Sorry I was just trying to help. You don't have an Avengers pager on hand do you?"

That was a complicated question and before he could even begin to address it, Peter could swear the creatures large, white, inky eyes were staring at his bleeding ankle for a few seconds before glaring at Yuri, "RAAARRRGH!!!"

Was it mad Yuri had unintentionally shot at him? Why? Why would any strange thing care he had gotten hurt when it was causing a wrecking ball of destruction literally everywhere else all around them? As Han Solo once said he had a bad feeling about this but right now he had no time to dwell on it because the thing was charging straight for her in a bloody rage. His instincts kicked in automatically shoving Yuri out of the way so he could take the brunt of whatever it had to throw at them this time. Unfortunately for him, that turned out to be another police cruiser as though it was a sledgehammer. Peter had no time to get out of the way and thus did his best to catch the vehicle with his upper arm strength. This would normally be pretty easy if he hadn't taken multiple hits including a gunshot wound to the leg. The pain radiating through him was far scarier than he would ever admit to anyone out loud. This wasn't normal and he was scared he wasn't going to be able to keep fighting forever.

His grip slipped on the suspension of the car when his knee buckled in pain, "Mgh..." Peter let out a pained huff noticing Yuri attempting to slip out from underneath the car next to him, "H-hurry....aahhh.." Another twinge and he was barely preventing himself from getting squished.

The exact second she was clear, Spider-Hulk haphazardly threw the police vehicle down the road setting all of his attention on Yuri. In no way was any of this turning out the way Peter thought, it was just too strong. Leaving the Avengers on not the best of terms was a mistake, and claiming he could protect New York on his own was an even bigger mistake. The choice had been made out of spite and anger, and a desire to be closer to Ned. Now he was older though, all of that felt like the selfish self pity party of a teenager who didn't know what he was saying. No matter how much he'd rather dwell on past mistakes, this wasn't over and Yuri was clearly in danger.

He forced himself back to his feet shooting several webs to the back of his head, "Yoo hoo? Big guy?...we're not done yet!"

Spider-Hulk turned around to face him clutching the traffic post, "Told you...to stay away!"

Yet again that uncomfortable feeling of familiarity washed over him as though the monster was holding back _just_ for him. This time that feeling didn't last very long and he saw the red light swinging towards his head with a ton of force. Not taking into account his current injuries, Peter followed his instincts and jumped on top of the pole hoping to get close enough to land a punch to the ugly things face. What he hadn't been thinking about was his foot landing on metal with a shot ankle just above it. Peter desperately hoped no one was filming this because his leg giving out midpunch sending him down to the concrete had to be one of his more embarrassing moments. Spider-Hulk wasn't satisfied watching him flop over this time and just started hammering him with the traffic pole like it was a baseball bat. He could take a lot of punishment but, he had his limits and they had definitely just been reached. After the second slam it hurt to breath and he spat out some blood on the inside of his mask.

Right before he was about to pass out, the signature sound of Tony's palm blast rang out, "Mr. Goop monster, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

A flood of relief filled him when he saw the actual Hulk pounce and start pounding on it as well as Cap's shield bouncing off of it's head. Peter wanted to help yet, the fact that they were here provided too strong of a temptation to close his eyes. They could handle it between the three of them not counting whoever else was here too. The last thing he felt was being dragged backwards, somewhere, before letting sleep take him.


	3. Chapter 2: Painful Hellos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just remind everyone of the alternate universe tags I have up. You don't have to tell me how Endgame ended, I'm just doing something different with it. It's ok not to enjoy the fact I'm linking the Insomniacverse with the MCU and I'm happy to discuss it in the comments. Obviously changes to both were needed to make it work but hopefully I'm clear enough you you can follow. All I ask is that "your not sticking to official canon" be used as the ONLY critique.

_"I don't want to die." Peter uttered desperately staring up into the terrified face of Tony Stark as he felt himself start to disappear like all the others._

_Death wasn't necessarily as bad as he had imagined, it was surprisingly warm and comforting. All the pain from the fight with Thanos had evaporated within seconds and was replaced with leaps and bounds of energy. He could probably win the marathon Olympic gold medal if he wanted to. While not weightless, the extra gravity that came along with fighting for your life on a moon was completely gone. What did go against stereotypical depictions of the afterlife was just how wet it had ended up being. Instead of being surrounded by puffy clouds, he was standing in an endless ocean with a constantly setting son. He was also utterly and completely alone which for the moment he was grateful for. At least his personal purgatory didn't involve crashing on a mysterious island with a ragtag group of misfits where there were ultimately very few good answers._

_He sighed looking down to notice he was still wearing the Iron Spider suit Tony had given him, "Crap, I should've died wearing a raincoat. This thing is going to rust so fast out here."_

_A voice he thought he had forgotten chuckled from some distance away, "Time doesn't mean much here Peter, it won't rust. Though, if you don't believe me you could always put something else on."_

_"Uncle Ben!" Peter cried out running towards his uncle who was just a few feet away from him._

_He had lost his uncle and surrogate father when he was ten years old to a drunk driver going too fast. The loss had really hit Peter hard regardless of the fact that the person in the car was facing jail time for what he had done. No matter what anyone would often tell you, getting justice only healed so much. You would never get to see your loved one again, never get to apologize to them for all the stupid things you might have done to them. Getting to see Ben standing in front of him really focused Peter's attention on the fact that he was dead. He didn't have the opportunity to ask Ned out, or let May know he wasn't skipping school and going to Berlin for the fun of it. And even though that fact hurt his heart, he was here right now getting to hug his uncle. Not only that, he looked forward to teasing Thanos when he inevitably ended up here. There was no way Tony and the other Avengers weren't going to kick his ass to stop him._

_Ben squeezed him in a hug for a very long moment, "I am so proud of you! All the people you've saved and inspired is the talk of the town up here!"_

_Peter let out a harsh laugh doing his best not to cry tears of joy, "I didn't actually do that much Ben. In case you haven't noticed Thanos won so..."_

_Ben let go of the hug so he could place both hands on his shoulders, "Peter, I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the little things you do for everyday people. Getting cats out of trees, delivering pizza to hospitals just to cheer up sick kids, helping people to cross the street late at night, and of course your help in stopping the end of the world. And that only scratches the surface of what you **will** do."_

_Peter immediately felt embarrassed being called out like this, "Well yeah...you taught me that if you have the power and ability to help even the most vulnerable people you should. I don't think that needs to be celebrated."_

_His uncle gave him a sweet smile, "Do you realize how easy it would've been to let the fame from Berlin get to your head Peter? You never let the Avengers change who you are in here." He jabbed a finger against Peter's chest affectionate, "And you never will either."_

_Since this was the second time he had alluded to the future Peter had to say something, "What do you mean will? I don't think I'm going anywhere Uncle Ben. I'm here to keep you company now."_

_Ben gave him a very sympathetic smile, "You have no idea how much I would enjoy that Peter but, it isn't your time yet. You have so many more experiences to have and I can't wait to see it."_

_Frustration must've surely etched Peter's features at that statement. He had been robbed of a full life with his uncle and now Ben was telling him it wasn't his time? For starters that might have been useful information for Thanos to have before he went on his quest to kill half the galaxy. And secondly, Peter couldn't help himself from selfishly enjoying it here. No pain? No fear? No daunting and often competing responsibilities he had to deal with on an hourly basis? No trying to hide who he was to support other peoples expectations of him? What wasn't there to like about this place? Peter could feel a tug at the base of his spine lightly pulling him backwards from where he came from, however, the sensation vanished almost as soon as it appeared._

_"I don't want to go and leave you by yourself up here.." Peter pleaded to the open air more than his uncle._

_Ben gently pushed him away so they started to drift apart in the water, "I know Peter, it just isn't time yet. You're going to get married, adopt a little girl, and watch her grow till you're older than me. For me though its only going to be a few minutes. I can wait.. You'll get to tell me all about it soon."_

_"No!" Peter desperately called out trying to swim back in his direction even though he was starting to fade away._

_Ben's words were distant and getting harder to hear, "Remember Peter... it might be difficult now yet...it'll be worth it later."_

_He was about to yell something else when Thanos' deep voice growled from behind him, "I am inevitable."_

_"And I am Iron Man." Tony uttered with such confidence as Peter felt as though he was being sucked through the floor against his will._

Peter jolted awake in a bed somewhere within Avengers Tower. He could tell definitively that's where he was from all of the Stark Industries labels that covered anything from the sheets to the IV bag attached to his arm. Even in death, Tony had to be the one to remind them constantly who brought them together in the beginning. Now that he was awake, Peter didn't know what was worse; having that dream again reliving his time...wherever that was, or waking up in Avengers Tower of all places afterwards. After Thanos had been snapped out of existence and everyone else was slowly returning, Peter had a brutal argument with Tony in the between realm. About how it wasn't his right to play God and bring all these people back just because he needed a son in his life. It was so selfish and so much like a teenager blaming anyone he could over losing his uncle again. Probably the biggest regret he had in his life was his last conversation with the real Tony Stark.

Tony being who he was though, he had prepared for the inevitability that he wasn't going to survive a second encounter with the Mad Titan, and thus uploaded his personality to an AI in his nanosuit. If his actual funeral hadn't of been publicized around the world, people would just have to assume Tony decided to go everywhere wearing his armor. Given what Ultron had almost accomplished years prior, Peter tried to shut the thing down but had been thwarted by the other Avengers. Their argument boiled down to this was what Tony wanted and as long as he was doing good he shouldn't be shut down. Regardless of what he had told Ned at the time, Tony's AI was the real reason he had left the Avengers, not the dangerous situations they constantly put themselves through. He avoided speaking to any of them for a good fourteen years, until he called Tony to get Harry a job in the tower. Despite how uncomfortable it was for him, keeping Harry safe from Norman's watchful gaze was a priority for him.

Natasha's calm collected voice once again highlighted the reality he was actually going to have to deal with this ex relationship, "Bad dreams?"

He turned his head in her direction with a strained smile, "Old ones I thought were long gone. How could you tell?"

She brushed some hair out of her face and stood up so she could walk to his bedside, "After Clint..you know, I had similar dreams. Bruce always said I would call out Clint's name over and over again. You were doing the same for Ben."

Peter tried to take a deep breath only to feel a protesting sharp pain from several of his ribs, "How long have I been out? Is everyone else ok?"

"Mostly just a few scratches and bruises." She paused for a few seconds before tilting her head to the bed behind him, "Bruce took a few extra hits but nothing like you went through. Peter, why didn't you call us? That thing could have killed you if we weren't already on our way."

"Is he going to be ok?" Peter asked attempting to crane his head in that direction using his genuine concern as a way to ignore the question.

Natasha wasn't going to let him out of it that easy, "A little sleep and some pain meds and he'll be fine. You on the other hand have four cracked ribs, a punctured ankle that needed surgery, a blood transfusion, and a few back injuries that could've been serious if you weren't extremely lucky. So I'm going to ask, why didn't you call us?"

He shrugged being truthful as best he could while not trying to hurt her feelings, "I honestly didn't think about it too much. You've all been fighting Galactus or whatever for the past little while and I didn't think I needed help against one big brute."

"Is that the same reason why you didn't tell us about Osborn or Otto? You know we're a big group Peter, if you would have just called us-" She began sounding genuine.

Which was why Peter instantly felt bad cutting her off, "Maybe I didn't call you because I don't want to be reminded I died a long time ago and all of you just couldn't let me go?! Or Tonk go for that matter. I'm twenty nine, not a teenager you have to look after anymore!"

Natasha was patient with him yet obviously offended, "That isn't fair and you know it."

He did know it, which was why the outburst left a bitter taste in his mouth even as it was coming out. They had been trying to save half of the universe that Thanos had literally snapped out of existence. How many other people had similar experiences to his, or on the flip side, how many people were grateful to Tony for giving them a second chance at living with their loved ones? It was easy to feel like the decision to undo what Thanos did was all about him because for Tony personally that was probably somewhat true. For the others though it had been about doing what was right and he should try harder to remember that. After this was all over he was sure he was going to need to go back to therapy for awhile...with all of the money he had just laying around...

In a quiet voice he replied, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't of said that. This past year has been tough on me, losing May, seeing Otto turn into a crazy person, watching Norman win reelection afterwards, MJ disappearing for six months. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Tony's synthesized voice made his heart ache not in the middle of a battle or over the phone so he could ignore it, "Apology accepted, now when were you going to tell me that the boyfriend of yours, you know the one that you asked me to hire, could turn into black ooze and wreck my lab?"

Peter closed his eyes listening to the sarcastic nature of Tony's voice but the words themselves were stabs to the heart. He had been starting to suspect that was the case when the creature had treated him at least a little differently than the rest of the city block yet, he had been desperately hoping he was wrong for Harry's sake. He already took all of the Devil's Breath deaths so personally thinking that if he had been there he could've stopped what happened. Harry often talked about getting Oscorp out from under Norman so that he couldn't have access to unlimited resources anymore. What was he going to do when he discovered his body was behind the deaths of at least twenty cops? Even though Peter refused to believe Harry was actually responsible guessing the creature took full control, Harry most likely will want to take all of the blame. 

"I mean that equipment isn't cheap, and my insurance is gonna go through the roof. It just would've been nice to have a heads up and an on off button like the green friendly giant over there." Tony continued to ramble on about not knowing what Harry was.

Natasha picked up on his body language with a sigh, "Tony... Tony! Peter didn't know."

Peter rubbed a hand across his face trying his best to prepare for even worse news, "Is he ok..?" His voice cracked half expecting the worst.

Tony had a nonchalant attitude as though he wasn't talking about the love of Peter's life, "Yeah of course he's fine, I wouldn't be able to keep my employees if I killed them. He's sedated in the tube until we know what to do with him."

Peter gasped for air and let out a happy sob, "Oh thank God... I know I'm an atheist but thank you... And what do you mean figure out what to do with him? Shouldn't you be running tests? I'd start with his DNA and work down."

Natasha gave him the next bit of bad news, "That's the thing.... _he's_ fine. Every test we've run on him hasn't shown anything abnormal on a cellular level."

Peter started to drag himself out of bed, "That's impossible, maybe you just don't know what to look for or you missed something."

Tony folded his arms watching Peter start to collect his clothes, "Or maybe we need to wait until sleeping beauty turns into the worst version of bridezilla you've ever seen. We need a sample of his other self so we know what we're looking for."

An idea popped into Peter's mind when he said that, Norman. If anyone was going to know anything about what happened to Harry it was going to be his father who had been looking for him constantly since he returned to New York. Now Peter knew why, going to see the mayor right now when he felt like he got hit with a freight train wasn't the best idea he had ever come up with but, it was better than just sitting here not knowing. He had to know what this thing was and how he was going to work with it before he could sleep at all. Harry was his everything and deserved nothing less.

"I'm leaving the Tower, I'll be back in a hour. Let me know if something changes before I get back." Peter declared quickly throwing his rough tattered suit back on.

Tony gently placed his metallic hand on Peter's shoulder almost knocking him over with pain, "Woah there cowboy, no way your swinging anywhere by yourself. Where are we going?"

Knowing they didn't have a lot of time to argue, Peter just started moving, "Norman Osborn's penthouse.. I think the mayor has a lot of explaining to do."


End file.
